Users often desire to switch a financial account from one financial institution to another. For instance, a user who discovers a prospective financial institution with better services or rates may want to switch away from their existing financial institution. However, switching accounts from one financial institution to another can involve considerable overhead. For example, a user seeking to switch an account to another financial institution must re-enter or transfer financial settings previously established for automated services associated with their existing accounts (such as direct deposit, “e-bills,” and electronic bill pay). Copying such information for accounts at a new financial institution can be a time-consuming and error-prone process.
Some automated systems can facilitate account switching by automatically collecting such financial settings for a given account and transferring them to a destination account at a new financial institution. While such systems assist in the account-switching process, there remains a danger that some settings may not transfer correctly, or that existing scheduled transactions will remain linked to an original account at the previous financial institution. Hence, some important transactions may not occur or may fail, and as a consequence a user may face severe financial consequences.
Hence, what is needed is a system that facilitates transferring financial settings without the above-described problems.